Cutting
them free
How is the UK
progressing in
protecting its
children from
sexual exploitation?
Foreword
My first act on
becoming Chief
Executive of
Barnardo’s in
January 2011
was to launch
the Cut them free
campaign to call
for urgent action
for child sexual
exploitation to be
tackled in the UK. Although Barnardo’s
had been supporting victims of this
horrific abuse for 17 years, there was
still a shocking lack of awareness,
leading to exploitation being overlooked
or the needs of its incredibly vulnerable
victims being sidelined.
Sadly we know that sexual exploitation
can exist in every community, in every
part of the country. So much more must
be done across the UK to identify and
cut free all those children being abused
in this way, and to help those vulnerable
young people who have been preyed upon
to rebuild their lives.
The stories of survival I am told by
young people being supported by
Barnardo’s to escape sexual exploitation
are distressing, but it is even more
heartbreaking to hear how much harder
their recovery is when they are let down
by the agencies which are supposed to
protect them. We need to make sure that
all those who work with children, local
authorities and national governments
recognise sexual exploitation as a form of
child abuse.
2
A survivor of child sexual
exploitation, who was supported
by Barnardo’s, asked at a recent
event: ‘why can’t the authorities spot
vulnerable children before abusers
do’? Professionals, parents, carers
and young people themselves must
have a better understanding of
how to spot the ‘tell-tale signs’ of
exploitation – and what to do if they
suspect a child is being abused.
Our Cut them free campaign has called
for each of the four nations in the UK to
improve their action on tackling child
sexual exploitation. In England this
has meant asking people to support us
in calling for local authorities to make
public commitments to tackling sexual
exploitation. And we have already seen
some real successes – including the
naming of a UK minister with lead
responsibility for sexual exploitation,
and a national action plan for England.
But we will not rest while there are still
children suffering this horrific abuse
who are being ignored. This report sets
out where there has been progress, and
highlights how much still needs to be
done if we are to cut young people in the
UK free from sexual exploitation.
Anne Marie Carrie
Chief Executive, Barnardo’s
Introduction
Barnardo’s has been tackling sexual
exploitation since 1994 when we opened
our first service. Our direct support
of victims now extends through 21
services across the UK. Each year we
work with over 1,000 children and
young people who have been sexually
exploited or are at serious risk of
exploitation, and the numbers keep
rising. In 2010-11 we worked with
1,190 young people affected by sexual
exploitation – an eight per cent rise on
the previous year. And at the time of the
survey, our numbers of service users for
April to September 2011 had increased
by 10 per cent over the same period
in 2010, despite some funding cuts to
our services. We also work to prevent
exploitation by raising awareness of
the issue among young people, parents
and carers, professionals and frontline
staff. In 2010-11, we engaged over 6,600
young people and children in awareness
raising sessions, and produced Spot the
signs leaflets to highlight key signs of
risk to young people, parents/carers
and professionals.
exploitation as a pervasive form of
abuse from which all children are at risk.’1
At the start of 2011, we launched our
Cut them free campaign to call on the
Government and local authorities
to take action to protect vulnerable
young people and children. Our calls
for action were published in Puppet on
a string. The year since has seen much
greater policy and public attention
to sexual exploitation. This report
sets out the progress and, drawing
on a survey of our services across the
UK, focuses on what is still needed if
young people are to be better protected
and supported. Progress in Northern
Ireland, Scotland and Wales is outlined
and the report considers in further
detail how far our campaign calls have
been met in England, following on from
Puppet on a string.
Barnardo’s has been influencing policy
and practice on sexual exploitation
from the start. From the mid-1990s,
we successfully challenged the idea
that exploited children were criminals
involved in prostitution. In the early
2000s, we lobbied for new protections
for under-18s and offences relating to
grooming, coercion and control were
introduced in the Sexual Offences Act
2003. More recently, we influenced
the UK and Welsh Government’s
guidance on safeguarding children
from exploitation. By the end of the
decade, attitudes to young victims had
improved, there was good guidance
on protecting young people and
greater provisions for prosecuting
abusers – but we were still waiting for
‘the major step change in policy and
practice… needed to recognise sexual
1 Barnardo’s (2011) Puppet on a string: The urgent need to cut children free from sexual exploitation.
Barnardo’s, Barkingside.
3
What we know about child
sexual exploitation
Child sexual exploitation is always
abusive. It involves children and young
people being forced or manipulated
into sexual activity. The exploitation
involves sexual activity in exchange
for something, whether money, gifts or
accommodation or less tangible goods
like affection or status. It victimises
children and young people under 18 –
sadly, this abuse is often misunderstood
and viewed as consensual. Yet no child
can consent to their own abuse, even if
they are 16 or 17 years old. We know the
abuse is based on an imbalance of power
which severely limits victims’ options.
The UK Government’s definition
of child sexual exploitation
Sexual exploitation of children and
young people under 18 involves
exploitative situations, contexts and
relationships where young people
(or a third person or persons) receive
‘something’ (e.g. food, accommodation,
drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection,
gifts, money) as a result of them
performing, and/or another or others
performing on them, sexual activities.
Child sexual exploitation can occur
through the use of technology without
the child’s immediate recognition;
for example, being persuaded to post
sexual images on the internet/mobile
phones without immediate payment or
gain. In all cases, those exploiting the
child/young person have power over
them by virtue of their age, gender,
intellect, physical strength and/or
economic or other resources. Violence,
coercion and intimidation are
common, involvement in exploitative
relationships being characterised in
the main by the child or young person’s
limited availability of choice resulting
from their social/economic and/or
emotional vulnerability.
The definition of child sexual exploitation
in the green box2 is taken from the
UK Government’s guidance on child
sexual exploitation for England3 and
the national action plan, and is based
on the definition agreed by the National
Working Group of organisations tackling
child sexual exploitation.
Sexual exploitation remains largely
hidden, but there is growing evidence
it is widespread. Our services alone
worked directly with 1,190 young
people in 2010-11. In 2009-10, a UK-wide
survey by the National Working Group
estimated there were over 3,000 service
users across the UK; a third of whom
were Barnardo’s service users. The Child
Exploitation and Online Protection
Centre’s (CEOP) thematic assessment
received 2,000 reports of victims,
despite only limited returns from local
authorities and police forces.
These figures are just the known
cases – we are aware that the number
of undetected victims is likely to be
much higher. In Northern Ireland,
Barnardo’s comprehensive 2011 study
estimated that one in seven young
people are at risk of exploitation. In
Wales, Barnardo’s has estimated that
nine per cent of vulnerable children are
at significant risk of sexual exploitation.
There is currently no estimate of the
prevalence of child sexual exploitation
in Scotland – something we are lobbying
the Scottish Government to address.
Sexual exploitation occurs throughout
the UK, in both rural and urban areas,
to boys and young men as well as girls
and young women. Overall, 10 per cent
of our sexual exploitation service users
are male, but a cluster of services have
developed local prominence for working
with boys and young men, and in those
services around a third of service users
are male. Our frontline experience
2 Definitions of child sexual exploitation used by the UK Government vary but this definition includes the
key characteristics.
3 Department for Children, Schools and Families (2009) Safeguarding children and young people from sexual
exploitation. DCSF, London.
4
and research both show that sexual
exploitation can affect young people
and children from all backgrounds –
however, there are some factors that may
make children and young people more
vulnerable. In particular young people
who go missing frequently and those
who live in care are over-represented
among sexual exploitation victims. Our
2010-11 survey of our sexual exploitation
services found that 44 per cent of all
our service users have gone missing4 on
more than one occasion, and 14 per cent
have been in care.
These findings are mirrored by the
University of Bedfordshire’s study,
which found that over half of all young
people using child sexual exploitation
services on one day in 2011 were known
to have gone missing (a quarter over
10 times), and 22 per cent were in
care.5 There are also strong indications
in this study and others that young
people involved in offending6 and those
excluded from school are also more
vulnerable to exploitation.7
Our work has identified key indications
of vulnerability which may show that
young people are being exploited or are
at significant risk. Our Spot the signs
leaflets list these ‘tell-tale signs’ for
young people themselves to be aware of
and for parents/carers and professionals
to look out for. These key indications of
vulnerability include:
n
going missing for periods of time or regularly returning home late
n regularly missing school or not taking part in education
n appearing with unexplained gifts or new possessions
n associating with other young people involved in exploitation
n having older boyfriends or girlfriends
n suffering from sexually transmitted infections
n mood swings or changes in emotional wellbeing
n drug and alcohol misuse
n displaying inappropriate sexualised behaviour.
4 ‘Missing’ refers to occasions when a child or young person’s whereabouts are unknown, for hours or days; ‘missing’
does not include a child or young person staying out for a short time after they should be at home.
5 Jago, S et al (2011) What’s going on to safeguard children and young people from sexual exploitation? How local
partnerships respond to child sexual exploitation. University of Bedfordshire, Bedford.
6 UCL (2010) Briefing document: CSE and Youth Offending. Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science,
UCL, London.
7 Jago, S et al (2011) What’s going on to safeguard children and young people from sexual exploitation? How local
partnerships respond to child sexual exploitation. University of Bedfordshire, Bedford.
5
A changing picture: emerging
trends noted by Barnardo’s services
Barnardo’s annual survey of its 21 child
sexual exploitation services tracks local
variation and emerging trends. It enables
us to assess how child sexual exploitation
is changing and informs our practice,
research and policy.
Models of exploitation
There is no single form of child sexual
exploitation. Young women and girls
are being exploited by older men who
appear to be their boyfriend, but this is
only one model of sexual exploitation.
Older ‘girlfriends’, peers (some of whom
have been abused), loose networks of
abusers, more organised groups and
some criminal gangs have been identified
as perpetrators. Our 21 services find
that sexual exploitation varies between
areas and its form can change quickly.
As in previous years, the 2010-11 survey
reiterated this diversity.
Most services noted significant change
in the local form of sexual exploitation –
but not in the same direction. Eight
said that peer-based exploitation was
becoming more common, while two
said that they were seeing more abuse
by ‘older boyfriends’ again, after a
rise in peer-based or opportunistic
exploitation. Barnardo’s has found
that child sexual exploitation is much
more likely to happen in private
than in public, and this year’s survey
showed that street-based grooming and
exploitation remains rare. But services
reported increased exploitation in semipublic areas such as parks and cafes.
Echoing this, three services highlighted
the role of parties in putting groups
of young people at significant risk
of exploitation. Whether hosted by
older young people or risky adults,
these events are perceived as ‘safe’ by
young people as they feel protected
by being in a group. As one manager
said: ‘Friendship groups or pairs
6
[are] going to known risky people’s
houses feeling this will make them
safer, but [it is] putting more young
people at risk’. Services stress the
need for greater preventative work
to raise young people’s awareness
of sexual exploitation, judgement of
risk and knowledge of how to keep
safe. In particular, young people need
to be aware that ready availability of
alcohol and drugs may increase their
vulnerability to abuse.
Organised exploitation and internal trafficking
The extent of organised exploitation
has become increasingly apparent to
our services in the last three years.
Organised sexual exploitation is the
most sophisticated form of this abuse,
based on links between abusers, and
often involves victims being moved to
other cities or towns for exploitation
(referred to as ‘internal trafficking’).
The 2010-11 survey showed that
services continue to be concerned
about the extent of networked and
organised exploitation: the same
adults linked to victims who do not
know each other; abusers fostering
links between vulnerable children or
young people; and victims themselves
being forced to engage vulnerable
peers, for example through links made
in secure accommodation.
Services are seeing the movement of
young people for sex within their region
and across the UK. In some cases,
businesses are being used as hubs for the
organisation of this exploitation.
Overall, the survey showed that one in
six of our service users are known to
have been moved for exploitation within
the UK, but in some services many
more service users have been moved.
Four services reported that a quarter of
service users had been moved, and for
another three services this rises to half
of all service users.
Involvement of peers in exploitation
Eight services reported an increase in
exploitation by peers – either directly
as abusers or indirectly by linking
victims with abusers. It can be difficult
to distinguish between young people’s
involvement in direct and indirect
peer exploitation, and some young
people may be involved in both. Direct
peer exploitation refers to young
people who actively exploit their peers
themselves. Indirect peer exploitation
refers to young people engaging
their peers in exploitation, but not
initiating the abuse. Often these young
people are victims of exploitation, or
fear abuse, and are drawing others
in as protection. Sometimes they are
pressured into bringing others to be
abused. Indirect exploitation typically
involves young people of similar ages,
but some services reported that young
teenagers are increasingly used to
engage older teenagers in exploitation,
making the initial contact so potential
victims feel safer than they might if
approached by an adult.
Exploitation of younger children
Services are still seeing young children
drawn into this form of abuse. Five
services raised it as a major concern,
identifying children as young as 11 at
high risk of sexual exploitation, although
the majority were working with children
from 13 years old.
The role of technology in exploitation
Exploited young people and children are
typically abused in person, but sexual
exploitation also takes place over the
internet, through mobile phones, online
gaming and instant messaging. This
is not surprising given how central
technology is now to young people’s
lives, and the issue has long been a major
concern for our services. However, the
services reported that the scale of online
and mobile abuse has markedly increased
even since 2010. Almost all services
reported it as an increasing priority, and
some have identified that the majority
of their service users were initially
groomed via social networking sites and
mobile technology.
‘The use of technology is such a big
issue. I hear of young people who post
inappropriate pictures of themselves on
the internet through the encouragement
of others. I hear about grooming of
young people by older adults over the
internet which progresses onto mobiles.
Sexual bullying and threats over the
internet and mobiles, we hear about this
all the time.’ [Service manager]
Young people, parents/carers and
professionals need to be more aware
of how such technology can be used by
abusers. Our services help young people
to understand what could be risky in
the many associations, conversations
and images they are surrounded by
when using this technology. In addition,
Barnardo’s lobbied for an amendment8
to the current Education Bill, to include
guidance to schools not to automatically
delete explicit images from mobile
phones. Images may constitute
evidence of abuse for any subsequent
prosecution, and could also raise
safeguarding concerns.
Prosecutions
Although legislation has created
offences around child sexual
exploitation,9 there have been very few
prosecutions so far. In 2010, only 57
people (over 21 years old) were found
guilty of offences relating to sexual
exploitation in England and Wales – and
these include those found guilty for
offences relating to trafficking adults.10
8 Our call for the guidance was raised by Lady Benjamin and acknowledged by Lord Hill.
9 England and Wales: Sexual Offences Act 2003. Northern Ireland: Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008.
Scotland: Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2005.
10Ministry of Justice (2011) Criminal Statistics England and Wales, 2010 (Table S5.7). MoJ, London.
7
The official statistics show a very small
increase on 2009, when the total was
55. However, convictions for abuse
of children through prostitution and
pornography have risen more markedly
over the last year, from 32 to 47.
Our services also indicate that there
has been some slight increase in the
prosecution rate – with offenders often
tried for other offences such as rape or
sexual activity with a child under 13 or
under 16. Across the UK, our services
knew of 137 police investigations
involving their service users as victims
of crimes relating to sexual exploitation.
Of these, seven are ongoing and 40 have
been taken to prosecution – mostly for
grooming via the internet (12 cases),
abuse of children through prostitution
(six cases), sex with a child under
13 (six cases) and rape (five cases).
Of the 37 prosecutions which have
concluded, two-thirds (24) have resulted
in conviction – eight for internet
grooming, five for abuse through
prostitution and three for rape.
It is concerning that the conviction
rate is still lower than it should be,
depressed by only partial understanding
of child sexual exploitation within
the criminal justice system which can
result in misunderstandings of the
relationship between victim and offender
and insufficient attention to the needs
of the young victim in giving evidence.
Prosecutions can be traumatic for young
victims, and Barnardo’s knows that
the invasive nature of the court cases
can stop young people from reporting
the horrific abuse or from providing
evidence. Until young victims are better
supported through this daunting and
potentially damaging process, for
example by making better use of the
available special measures for court,
there will only be marginal increases in
the number of prosecutions.
As well as seeking prosecutions,
police can try to disrupt exploitation –
for example by issuing abduction
notices, which state that the offender
must not be in the company of the
young person. Disruption tactics
are becoming more widely used by
police – either in place of or alongside
efforts to prosecute. Our services
were aware of at least 16 notices11
issued to abusers, but also said that
much more could be done to disrupt
and deter abuse by using such tactics
more widely.
11 Six abduction notices, five harbouring notices and five sex offender prevention orders.
8
National and local progress
on sexual exploitation
2011: A busy year
When Barnardo’s launched its Cut them
free campaign at the start of 2011, we
welcomed the greater interest that was
being shown in identifying and tackling
child sexual exploitation, but said that
we were still waiting for ‘the major step
change in policy and practice… needed
to recognise sexual exploitation as a
pervasive form of abuse from which all
children are at risk.’12
From the start, 2011 did see far greater
policy and public attention to sexual
exploitation – this report will consider
whether it has amounted to the major
step change required.
January:
Cut them free
campaign
launched.
May: Tim Loughton
announces national
action plan to be
published in autumn.
February: Children’s
Minister Tim Loughton
appointed ministerial lead
on child sexual exploitation.
June: CEOP’s
thematic
assessment is
published.13
October: University of
Bedfordshire publishes study of
local action in England.
October: Launch of Office of the
Children’s Commissioner (England)
two-year inquiry into child sexual
exploitation by gangs and groups.
November: Barnardo’s study within
Northern Ireland14 is published.
November: Tackling Child Sexual
Exploitation, the Government’s national
action plan for England is launched at
Barnardo’s event.
Progress across the UK Nations
So by late 2011 there had been some
marked progress on sexual exploitation,
specifically on the evidence base,
governmental recognition of the problem
and provisions for action. Much of this
had already been achieved in Wales, so
the greatest progress in 2011 was made
in England, but Barnardo’s campaigns
in Scotland and Northern Ireland also
catalysed change.
12Barnardo’s (2011) Puppet on a string: The urgent need to cut children free from sexual exploitation.
Barnardo’s, London.
13 CEOP (2011) Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Breaking down the barriers to understanding child sexual exploitation.
CEOP, London.
14Barnardo’s (2011) Not a world away. The sexual exploitation of children and young people in Northern Ireland.
Barnardo’s Northern Ireland, Belfast.
9
Barnardo’s Northern Ireland published a report exposing the extent
of child sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland (NI). Not a world
away found that sexual exploitation is an issue of concern for almost
two-thirds of girls in residential care homes in NI who were included
in the study.
It also found that sexual exploitation affects both males and females
and that, in half of the cases identified, the abuse lasted at least one
year and in over 16 per cent, it lasted three or more years.
In light of these findings, Barnardo’s Northern Ireland is calling
for the NI Policing Board to incorporate child protection including
sexual exploitation as a priority in the forthcoming Policing Plans
and for the Health and Social Care Board to draw together an
action plan to tackle sexual exploitation head on. Supporters are
being asked to sign up to a petition to the NI Policing Board to
urge them to make child sexual exploitation a priority at
www.barnardos.org.uk/cutthemfree
Barnardo’s Cymru welcomed the review of the
implementation of new Child Sexual Exploitation
Safeguarding Guidance (2011) being undertaken by
the Welsh Government – this is an important step in
addressing the gap between policy and practice in
relation to child sexual exploitation safeguarding
in Wales. The Welsh Government commissioned
Barnardo’s Cymru to deliver implementation
support events across Wales in early 2011 and all
Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards (LSCBs)
attended. Examples of good practice are available
and we hope that new collaboration arrangements
being put forward by the Welsh Government will
support the growth of good practice across Wales.
Our Seraf service is doing innovative work to assist
local authorities in their workforce development in
relation to child sexual exploitation by the sharing
of skills, knowledge and expertise through our new
Practitioner Mentoring Programs.
Unfortunately a high proportion of the children and young people who are
identified as needing support still have those needs unmet in Wales. There is a
continued need for better multi-agency responses to children and young people
who go missing so that risk of sexual exploitation can be identified earlier
and children and young people can be better safeguarded from this abuse.
Barnardo’s Cymru Seraf Service is working with the police and a number of
local authorities to support the development of better responses to children and
young people who go missing. Briefings on internal trafficking and child sexual
exploitation are being delivered to three police forces across Wales.
10
Barnardo’s Scotland has been calling for the Vulnerable children and young
people: sexual exploitation through prostitution guidelines (2003) to be updated
along the lines of recent developments in Wales and England, and for action
to be taken on the recommendation in the existing guidelines that research be
carried out into the nature and scope of child sexual exploitation in Scotland.
These guidelines should be revised and refreshed to take account of recent
legal changes, and also to assess the role of the internet and text messages in
child sexual exploitation which our services have identified as having changed
significantly in recent years.
Barnardo’s recently submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament, which
was signed by over 3,000 people. The petition calls on the Scottish
Government to:
n carry out research on the nature of sexual exploitation in Scotland
n tell us what their progress is in tackling this issue
n develop robust new policies to tackle sexual exploitation.
There is still the need to continue to push for this
progress in Scotland in 2012.
In England, Barnardo’s called for a national action
plan to tackle child sexual exploitation and a lead
government minister, and both have been met with
the appointment of the Children’s Minister as lead
on child sexual exploitation and the launch of the
national action plan. In addition, Barnardo’s has
issued a direct call to local authorities to publicly
commit to addressing child sexual exploitation; this
commitment is made by pledging to develop a local
action plan and assess their progress in protecting
young people from child sexual exploitation against
the following key points:
n What
system is in place to monitor the number of
young people at risk of sexual exploitation?
n Does the Local Safeguarding Children’s
Board have a strategy in place to tackle child
sexual exploitation?
n Is there a lead person with responsibility for
coordinating a multi-agency response?
n Are young people able to access specialist support
for children at risk of sexual exploitation?
n How are professionals in the area trained to spot the signs of child sexual exploitation?
See the local authority checklist for more detail at www.barnardos.org.uk/
cutthemfree_labriefing.pdf
Throughout 2012, Barnardo’s will be continuing to urge local authorities to take
action to tackle this form of abuse.
11
Having a ministerial lead and a
national action plan for child sexual
exploitation were key policy calls in our
Cut them free campaign for England.
We called for a lead minister ‘to provide
dedicated attention to this issue’. The
appointment of the minister has given
greater prominence to child sexual
exploitation as a national responsibility
in England, and we welcome the
attention that the minister has given it
so far. Barnardo’s will scrutinise this to
see whether it is maintained.
We called for a national action plan
‘to embed guidance and overcome
the barriers to more effective local
delivery’. The publication of the national
action plan has set out in broad terms
how the responsibility is to be shared
across central government and by
local authorities, police forces and
other agencies. Barnardo’s welcomes
the plan, especially its emphasis on
cross-departmental working to tackle
sexual exploitation, its proposals
to raise awareness of child sexual
exploitation and improve training for
some professionals, and recognition of
the need to improve the prosecution rate
and experience for victims. However,
much in the plan is ongoing rather than
new, and relatively few of the new actions
commit government departments or
statutory agencies to specific changes.
This means that further progress is
largely dependent on goodwill, which is a
concern during these challenging times.
How far the national action plan
met our calls is set out against our
four recommendations.
1. Raise awareness to improve early
identification of child sexual exploitation.
National action plan commitments:
n Barnardo’s calls were heard with
specific commitments to awareness
raising among professionals, young
12
people and parents and training for
some frontline staff.
Work to do:
Barnardo’s will monitor how these
commitments and intentions are
implemented. In particular, we
will scrutinise the Department
for Education’s assessment of
how it could help LSCBs raise
awareness and understanding of
child sexual exploitation.
n
2. Improve statutory responses and the
provision of services. National action
plan commitments:
n Barnardo’s calls have been recognised
in the emphasis on improving
responses to this abuse but there
is limited mention of the need for
additional specialist services.
Work to do:
n Barnardo’s will assess how the
Department for Education is helping
LSCBs to track and respond to sexual
exploitation, especially whether it
is encouraging LSCBs to establish
a child sexual exploitation working
group or appoint a lead officer to co-ordinate action.
n Barnardo’s will respond to the Home
Office’s proposals for increased
funding of rape/sexual abuse
support services, emphasising the
need to ensure this funding will also
provide specifically for victims of
sexual exploitation.
3. Improve the evidence.
National action plan commitments:
n Barnardo’s calls are partly recognised
in the acknowledgement that ‘areas
cannot conclude [child sexual
exploitation] is not an issue for them
in the absence of a proper assessment’
(p10), and the intention to support
LSCBs in mapping levels. However,
there is no provision for a national
reporting mechanism or standardised
process by which services can share
concerns with police.
Work to do:
n Barnardo’s welcomes the recognition
of a need to map child sexual
exploitation levels and to monitor
ongoing prevalence, using information
from all relevant agencies. However,
we are disappointed at the absence of a
national reporting mechanism.
n Barnardo’s will encourage the
Department for Education and the
Home Office to consider how systems
can be established for information
sharing between services and the
police, as part of the work to improve
responses to sexual exploitation. We
will also assess whether adequate
resources are given to making this
local data into a national picture.
4. Improve prosecution procedures.
National action plan commitments:
n Barnardo’s calls are acknowledged
in the emphasis on young witnesses’
welfare as a priority throughout
prosecutions, and on improving police
and justice agencies’ effectiveness in
prosecutions. However, there are few
new commitments.
Work to do:
n Barnardo’s will ask the Ministry of
Justice to show how their intentions to
improve support for young witnesses
and responses to intimidation have
been implemented.
n We will monitor whether pre-trial
video-recorded cross-examination
is used, and will ask the Ministry of
Justice to explain its decision if the
provisions are not used.
n We will respond to the consultation for
the review of victims’ services.
The Department for Education will be
publishing a review of progress on the
national action plan in Spring 2012.
Barnardo’s hopes that this review
will maintain momentum on tackling
child sexual exploitation, but we will
continue to monitor progress against
our campaign calls. Specifically, we will
assess whether the emphasis placed on
local responsibility for tackling child
sexual exploitation has led LSCBs to
improve their responses – or the fact
that the national action plan did not
require action from LSCBs has allowed
momentum to slip.
Local progress on sexual
exploitation
In England, the updated government
guidance on addressing child sexual
exploitation15 sets out how Local
Safeguarding Children Boards and
statutory agencies should act to protect
young people. However, it is evident that
the guidance is only being used in some
areas and not in full. The University of
Bedfordshire’s comprehensive study of
local action over child sexual exploitation
found that only a third of LSCBs were
implementing the guidance. Such
variation in local awareness of the issue
and statutory responses to it is also
clear from Barnardo’s evaluation of our
Recovery Project which delivers intensive
support to victims of exploitation across
London.16 Few of the 25 boroughs which
have received the service so far follow the
pan-London protocol on safeguarding
children and young people from sexual
exploitation, which was jointly developed
by all 33 London boroughs.17
Our services show that this difference
in awareness and approach is mirrored
with LSCBs across England and Wales
(which has comprehensive guidance on
sexual exploitation) and in equivalent
child protection bodies in Scotland and
Northern Ireland. Overall, the services
described their links with LSCBs or their
15 DCSF (2009) Safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation. DSCF, London.
16 This Metropolitan Police Service-funded provision runs from 2008-2012.
17 London Safeguarding Children Board (2006) Safeguarding children abused through sexual exploitation.
London Councils, London.
13
equivalents in positive terms – half said
they had ‘very good’ relationships. But
there were clear gaps and some services
indicated concerns that child protection
bodies are downgrading child sexual
exploitation as a priority, even in areas
with an established specialist service
highlighting the issue.
Research from Barnardo’s services
shows what enables young people to be
protected from sexual exploitation and
supported if they have been exploited.
There are five clear lessons from our
longer-term work:
1. Raising awareness among young
people and practitioners is
crucial in preventing exploitation
and identifying victims – early
identification and intervention is
known to significantly reduce the
potential harm of sexual exploitation.
2. A clear multi-agency system to
identify and respond to local cases of
exploitation is essential if victims and
those at risk are to receive timely and
appropriate interventions.
3. Having a lead worker to co-ordinate
the multi-agency response can
make planning and delivering it
more efficient.
4. Gathering and assessing data on
levels and risks of child sexual
exploitation is fundamental to
understanding the profile of
exploitation, and guiding the response.
5. Specialist services are best placed to
provide the necessary support; sexual
health services, child and adolescent
mental health services and other
statutory agencies play a key role but
may not develop a fuller picture of the
young person’s situation.
Barnardo’s Cut them free campaign
includes a direct call to local authorities
in England to publicly commit to
addressing sexual exploitation. This
commitment is made by pledging to
18www.barnardos.org.uk/cutthemfree
14
develop a local action plan, and signing
up to a minimum standard of action
based on these five key elements – drawn
from the lessons above.18 Barnardo’s
five-step checklist provides English local
authorities with a way to assess their
progress in protecting young people
from sexual exploitation:
Checklist for English
local authorities
q What system is in place to monitor
the number of young people at risk
of child sexual exploitation?
q Does your LSCB have a
strategy in place to tackle child
sexual exploitation?
q Is there a lead person with
responsibility for coordinating
multi-agency response?
q Are young people able to access
specialist support for children at
risk of child sexual exploitation?
q How are professionals in your area
trained to spot the signs of child
sexual exploitation?
Barnardo’s has contacted all local
authorities and all councillors setting out
the importance of tackling child sexual
exploitation and asking them to ensure
that their local authority does sign up to
the Cut them free commitment. The public
can also contact their council through our
campaign website to ask them to commit
to taking action. By late December, over
7,000 people had joined the campaign,
showing the strength of public concern
over sexual exploitation. Despite this
considerable public support, and
Barnardo’s contacting councils directly,
only 73 of England’s 152 local authorities
had joined the campaign with a public
commitment to tackle sexual exploitation.
Our campaigning work will continue to
ensure that local authorities throughout
England commit to taking real action.
Recommendations to maintain
momentum and ensure change
Much has been done this year to raise
the profile of child sexual exploitation
as a priority concern for the UK, and
specifically for authorities which have
local responsibility for protecting young
people. However, we are yet to see how
this effort has translated into action, so
Barnardo’s and all agencies focused on
tackling sexual exploitation will need to
ensure that the momentum is maintained
and leads to real change.
In Northern Ireland urgent action is
still needed to protect young people
from this abuse. More effective statutory
responses will be in place if the Northern
Ireland Policing Board incorporates child
protection, including sexual exploitation,
as a priority in the forthcoming
Policing Plans to recognise the critical
importance of this area of work and if
the Health and Social Care Board draws
together an action plan to tackle sexual
exploitation head on.
To tackle the problem more effectively
in Scotland, the Scottish Government
needs to review and update the existing
guidelines, dating from 2003, and
commission research so the nature and
scope of child sexual exploitation in
Scotland can be fully understood. A new
robust set of policies will be required
to tackle sexual exploitation and the
Scottish Government should set out
any progress they make in addressing
this issue.
In Wales local authorities must
address the gap between those
numbers of children and young people
who are identified as needing support
and those who still have those needs
unmet. Police and local authorities
should also continue to work to
improve multi-agency responses for
children and young people who go
missing so that risk of child sexual
exploitation can be identified earlier
and children and young people can be
better safeguarded from abuse through
child sexual exploitation.
In England work must continue to focus
the efforts of local authorities and LSCBs
on tackling this abuse, and it must be
acknowledged that the four key changes
called for in Puppet on a string still need
significant work before they are met.
Raise awareness
The national action plan for England sets
out many ways that awareness is to be
raised – among young people, parents/
carers and professionals. However, there
is some evidence from our services that
agencies have reduced their uptake of
awareness raising and training on child
sexual exploitation over the past year.
Our services delivered school sessions on
child sexual exploitation to 6,814 young
people across the UK (6,676 in England)
but this was a third fewer than in 200910. Acknowledgement and recognition
of child sexual exploitation remains very
patchy – even in areas where Barnardo’s
services are highlighting the problem –
so this trend is worrying.
Barnardo’s welcomes the Government’s
intention to highlight the issue of
exploitation in its review of Personal
Social Health and Economic Education,19
but we hope that other education
providers which are not subject to
the guidance, such as academies, will
also raise awareness of child sexual
exploitation among their pupils. We
urge all local authorities to provide
information and training on sexual
exploitation to both frontline and
strategic professionals responsible
for young people’s welfare. We will be
monitoring the implementation of plans
to improve the training of police officers
and social workers.
Improve support
Young people who are sexually exploited
need timely and tailored interventions if
19 This is also delivered in short-stay schools, formerly known as pupil referral units.
15
they are to be cut free from their abuse.
The national action plan encourages
LSCBs to assess the local need and to
develop a response strategy – but it
does not oblige them to do so. We are
concerned that many will continue
to sideline the issue, especially given
severe budget cuts. Investing in early
identification and specialist support
could reduce overall expenditure
by many agencies. An evaluation by
Barnardo’s and Pro Bono Economics20
has shown that spending on specialist
services potentially saves taxpayers’
money; for every £1 spent on Barnardo’s
child sexual exploitation services, £12
may be saved by the Exchequer over the
longer term.
As a minimum, local authorities
should devise a multi-agency strategy
incorporating police, social services,
health and education and appoint a
lead officer to co-ordinate responses.
Barnardo’s knows that one of the most
successful strategies for addressing
exploitation is to bring specialist support
services to work alongside police
and, where possible, social or health
services. The study by the University of
Bedfordshire illustrates this. Barnardo’s
will continue our campaign, calling
on local authorities to protect young
people from child sexual exploitation,
and we will continue working with the
Association of Chief Police Officers and
the Local Government Association to
inform police and council responses to
this abuse.
Improve the evidence
Recent research has improved our
understanding of how widespread the
problem of child sexual exploitation
is – and has also highlighted that there
is much still to do to raise awareness
of the issue. The English Office of the
Children’s Commissioner’s inquiry into
child sexual exploitation by groups
and gangs will considerably extend the
evidence of these forms of exploitation,
and contribute to the overall picture.
The national action plan also mentions
the importance of developing a fuller
understanding of the levels and forms
of child sexual exploitation, but it is not
clear how this is to be achieved. Child
Exploitation and Online Protection
Centre has ongoing responsibility for
centrally collating local data, and can
call for local authorities to provide their
evidence. However, data analysis would
need to be adequately resourced – we
will wait to see whether the national
picture can be updated.
Improve prosecutions
Prosecutions have been a particular
cause for concern – there are low rates of
successful prosecutions and the process
can be a negative experience for young
victims. Our services indicate that some
police forces are becoming far better in
their engagement with young victims
and are often supportive through the
preparation for trial and the prosecution.
However, cross-examination can still be
very traumatic. Barnardo’s welcomes
the national action plan’s emphasis on
enabling young victims and witnesses
to give their best evidence in court.
However, we are concerned that there
will still be limited understanding of this
complex issue within the courts and the
wider criminal justice system. Barnardo’s
will be monitoring whether the efforts do
indeed improve the prosecution process
and enhance victim support.
20Barnardo’s and Pro Bono Economics (2011) Reducing the risk, cutting the cost: An assessment of the potential savings
from Barnardo’s interventions for young people who have been sexually exploited. Barnardo’s, Barkingside.
16
17
Cutting them free
How is the UK progressing in
protecting its children from
sexual exploitation?
© Barnardo’s, 2012
All rights reserved
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Some images posed by models.
Cover image:
Photography by Marcus Lyon
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